First Dance
by fiendofspace
Summary: Who would have thought that you'd find love at your best friend's wedding?


Your name is Karkat Vantas, and gog do you hate wedding receptions. The wedding part isn't that bad, for the most part. But the receptions. Fuck receptions. You've only been at this particular reception for about half an hour, and you're already feeling yourself being slowly driven crazy by the awful pop songs being blasted over the speakers. You haven't even heard half of this junk before, and there is no chance of getting anything better since the best DJ in the room happens to be the groom.

Dave's standing not far away, talking with his now brother-in-law. He's leaning casually against the dessert table with his hands shoved in his pockets. He was never one for sentiments, but he's looking happier than he ever has with his new bride clinging joyfully to his arm. Jade's positively glowing, although she's looking a bit agitated at the moment as her brother, Jake, fawns over her long, white dress.

The only part of the reception that you've enjoyed so far was the first dances. Dave and Jade had taken the opening dance to "At Last," then Jade and her grandfather, the father figure in her life, had danced to "Blackbird." Then Dave and his older brother had stolen the show by ironically getting down to some ridiculous Backstreet Boys music. There was something about the first dances that stood out to you… but then it was back to the rest of these junky pop songs.

You roll your eyes, taking another swig of your drink. Your tux is uncomfortable, the room too hot, the music too loud, and you're stuck here drinking Coca-Cola as the night's designated driver. There's no way that this can get worse. The place could catch on fire and it still wouldn't be as bad as it already is.

You were altogether curious as to why Dave and Jade were pulling this now. They'd been together for over three years, yes, but everyone had thought that it was simply a college fling. Not even a year out of college and you're already doing all of this "best man" shit. To be honest, you were surprised that Dave had asked both you and John to be best man. He was definitely going for the non-traditional hipster approach. You bet that he'd had to do some hardcore convincing to have Jade let him have two people as best man. You'd considered denying the request; weddings aren't exactly your area. You'd rather stay away from them altogether. But he's been there for you through thick and thin, and you reminded yourself that it's his night - not yours. So here you are, best man along with John.  
And speak of the fucking devil.

"Hey, Karkat!" yelled John, striding over to where you stand.

Honestly, you don't really want to talk to him at the moment. Maybe it's just all the talk of weddings, but something in the air isn't going to let you forget the embarrassing crush you've had on John, your close friend, for the past few years. "What?" you respond irritably, taking another sip from your soda can.

"Glad you could show up! Dave said something about you not wanting to come?"

"I'm the best man, I couldn't just not show at the reception, asshat."

John puts his hands up in surrender. "Just a conversation-starter, man."

"Huh." You take a huge sip of your drink, attempting to hide your face behind the can.

He doesn't notice. "They look so happy together," says John airily, gazing over at Dave and Jade, who are now in an animated discussion with both Dirk Strider and Jake near the dessert table. "There's just so much love flying around here!"

"You're such a fucking dork," you spit back, feeling your face reddening. Good thing it was semi-dark in the ballroom, or you'd have to make some lame excuse relating to how warm it was in the room - an excuse that even Egbert wouldn't buy.

John ignored him. "We should go talk to them!"

You glance over to them. They're now surrounded by a small crowd. Among them, you see some of your other friends from college. "Fuck no. We'd never get to the center of that circus act. Too many people." You pause. "And your ex."

He wrinkles his nose. "Vriska? Who even invited her?"

"Probably Kanaya. I think she's here with Rose."

"Is that even allowed? I thought you were supposed to be invited by the bride or groom, and I'm pretty sure they-"

"Oh my gog, stop talking!" you admonish. "You'd spew random shit for days if no one was here to stop you."

He gives you a sideways grin. "Alright, sorry."

You sit in silence for a few minutes. Well, not silence. You still have that awful Katy Perry music blasting from every crevice in the room. It's driving you insane.

"Fuck this, I'm leaving," you say, tossing your empty soda can into the recycling bin and turning towards the door.

John hurries after you. "What? No! We're the best men at this wedding, you've gotta see the reception through." He grabs onto your arm as you pass through the door. "Just stay until Dave leaves, okay?"

You glance at him, and he's got such an obnoxiously hopeful look on his face. "Fine," you grumble. "I just have to go outside for a minute. I'm getting sick of this ridiculous music."

The cool air feels magnificent. There's a light breeze, and the moon is just full enough to cast a blue-ish glow over the field behind the ballroom. The building is still rumbling with music, some sort of shitty song by Muse now, but it's so much quieter on the back porch. You sit down on one of the steps and rest your head in your hands.

A second later, John sits beside you and places a hand on your back. "You okay?" he asks.

"Headache," you respond shortly.

He lowers his voice immediately. "Ah. Sorry." He pauses. "Do you want me to get you something to drink?"

"Nah, I just had a soda."

"What about champagne?"

"I'm driving people home."

"Oh."

The wind rustles through your hair, giving you a much-needed cool chill. You take off your ridiculous black suit-jacket, leaving you to cool off in your white dress shirt and blue tie. You guess that Jade picked the colors for the wedding, because Dave honestly didn't give a shit. You wouldn't be surprised if Kanaya helped, or Rose for that matter. They'd managed to pull off a nice-looking getup.

John ended the silence with a sudden sigh.

"What?" you ask, lifting your head out of your hands.

He was quiet for a moment, looking out over the rustling grass of the field. "What do you think about all of this wedding stuff?" he asked.

"Fucking useless," you reply, replacing your head back in your hands.

"I think it's nice," he responded, as if he hadn't heard your reply. "You saw how happy Dave and Jade are."

"Yeah, but that's Dave and Jade. They're perfect for each other." You rub your eyes. "I'll never do a dumb setup like this."

"Unless the right person comes along," he says pointedly.

"…I guess."

He leans back with his eyes closed, quietly humming along with Hot Chelle Rae's "Tonight, Tonight" that you can hear, slightly muffled, through the walls of the ballroom.

"You're a dork," you mutter.

He just laughs. After a moment, he says, "Any ideas of who the right person is?"

"Uh…" You ponder his question. What the fuck was he even getting at? Was he trying to worm a confession out of you or something? Fuck that. "Maybe."

There's another silence. You're starting to feel discomforted by the amount of sheer silence going on between the two of you.

"I think I might know," he says slowly. Then, quietly, he leans in and kisses you.

Startled, you pull away. "What the _actual fuck_, John?!"

"Oh…" he says quickly, looking down at his shoes in sudden shame. "I just thought… Maybe…" He stands up, turning to go back inside. "I'm sorry, I should go-"

You scramble up behind him, grabbing his hand. He turns back to you with confusion written across his face, and you seize his bewilderment. You put your hand behind his head and pull him to you. And with that, you're kissing John Egbert, your friend since high school, your crush since college, your partner in "best man" crime. And holy fuck, what even is going on? Before tonight, you didn't have any idea that he felt the same about you in the slightest. But jegus fuck you aren't complaining. You've been dreaming of this for years. In your mind you've substituted yourself and John for the protagonists of your rom-coms; and here you are, kissing him on the back porch of your best friend's wedding reception. If that isn't rom-com material, you don't know what is.

The two of you part, looking slightly away from each other. There's an adorable smile on John's lips, and you can't help but chuckle.  
"I guess we're at an agreement then?" he says finally.

You grin. "I guess so." With that, you sling an arm over his shoulders. "We should probably go back into that godawful sinkhole again. Wish the happy couple our best and shit."

"And tell the others about this?" he asks cautiously.

"Fuck no. We're at a heterosexual wedding."

"Come on, just Dave? He's gotta know."

You give him a sideways grin. "Fine. Just Dave."

"And Rose, she's cool. And Kanaya…"

"Fuck, it's not like we're getting married you dweeb."

He bites his lip. "Fine. Just Dave."

The two of you re-enter the building. You start to feel a bit nervous as John leads you over to Dave, but as you're nearing the dessert table he stops walking.

"The hell?!" you shout, almost running into him.

"This song," he says, pointing absently at the ceiling.

You vaguely recognize it. " "Better Together?" " you ask. "What about it?"

"I love it," he says, his face breaking into a wide smile. "You can spare a couple minutes, right?"

You glance over at Dave and Jade. They're still surrounded by admirers and well-wishers. "Yeah, I guess."

John pulls you to the center of the dance floor. With a smile, he puts his arms around your waist and rests his chin on your shoulder.

"Aren't you worried about people seeing? A lot of people wouldn't be too fucking pleased by this," you mutter into his hair as you put your arms tentatively around him as well.

"I don't care," he says happily. "I'm in the best mood right now, and nothing can change that. I just… I've been wanting to do that for a long time, you know? And I didn't know if you felt the same way, so I guess that I was putting all my eggs in one basket, so to speak."

You chuckle quietly. "I sure as hell wasn't going to make a move. I'm glad you did, you dumb asshat."

No one seems to notice the two of you swaying in place on the dance floor to Jack Johnson, the first decent song you've heard all evening. You don't mind; you're the happiest you've been in a long time, with John in your arms and nobody seeming to care. Telling Dave could wait - unless he'd already seen of course. You open your eyes and glance over to where Dave and Jade are seated. After a moment or two, Dave looks over and you catch his eye. He appraises you and John for a second or two, then gives a curt grin and nods his approval before focusing once more on the guests.

Well, there's one thing taken care of.

You tighten your arms around John, and he does the same. Like he had said, nothing can spoil your mood as you dance with him in the crowd. You close your eyes again, perfectly content for the first time in years. And finally, after pining for so long, you know that everything's about to get better.

* * *

**Hello everyone, thanks for reading!**

**I don't usually write sappy stuff like this, I wrote this at like 1 AM after watching a really fluffy romcom. After about two weeks of debating whether or not to upload it, here it is! **

**Anyway, as always, reviews are appreciated! If you have ****_anything _****to say about this story at all, please drop a comment :) **

**Thanks so much! **

**- fiendofspace**


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